Business With Passion: Don Santa

Don Santa is the owner and founder of Woodlands Market in Kentfield (California). Since he purchased what was then a small wine and liquor shop in 1986, Santa has built the Market into a nationally-known store which emphasizes local and sustainable products. A hallmark of Santa’s approach to business is most clearly demonstrated in his approach to advertising: he does none. Instead he directs the funds that grocery stories typically devote to advertising to community nonprofit organizations and local schools. In the more than two decades since he opened Woodlands Market, the store has contributed more than $2.3 million.